Lines & Shapes
April 4th 2006 10:54
Welcome back!
talent n. any innate or special aptitude.
ability n. the state of being able; power to do; skill.
I’ve been taking pictures with my Canon now for not even a year yet, but in that time I’ve been told that I have a “natural eye” for photography by a few people that seem to know what they’re talking about. It’s pretty flattering to be told that by someone (especially if they have that ‘wow’ factor in their images), but it only becomes useful if they take the time to tell you why they think that. They’ll tell you, technically, why one image is superior to another and why one image can “feel like I’m falling” while another “sinks like a lead balloon”.
That’s ability, your ability, to frame your subject using knows ‘rules’ of light & exposure, lens & films, and ratios & position to achieve a desired result. Ability is learning something new from a book, or a friend, or a forum. But its talent that delivers the story in your image, its talent that draws viewers around your image as they “fall from top to bottom”, and I think its something that you *can* forge as you work on your ability. Looking over my own photo gallery (or anyone else on digital-photo-forum for that matter) I can see my own talent worming its way into my pictures.
Now while I don’t think I have a right to brag (yet
, I do think I should start honouring the intent of this website .. namely providing tips in the field of digital photography. I just wanted you all to know that really, I’m just an amateur trapped in a beginners body. The tips I share with you here are just that; tips I’ve mentally collected over the last whatever and added to my ability.
Lines and Shapes
Training your eyes to find the lines & shapes in an image is a good place to start.
Horizontal lines commonly includes landscapes, sleeping/lying figures, or waves on a beach whereas vertical lines can be seen in buildings, groups of people, or a forest.
Working alongside these are the diagonal lines, which are usually the most exciting & visually stimulating lines in an image; the long parallels of a road and even the angle of an opened window.
Combining all of these lines in a frame is where is start to see the simpler shapes like triangles and squares.
When you’re waiting to cross the road, in line at the supermarket, even just standing on the train or walking through the park, these times are good to just look around and search for lines & shapes. The more you do it, the more you will notice yourself “seeing” them before you think about it.
That’s talent.
‘til next time, keep shootin.
talent n. any innate or special aptitude.
ability n. the state of being able; power to do; skill.
I’ve been taking pictures with my Canon now for not even a year yet, but in that time I’ve been told that I have a “natural eye” for photography by a few people that seem to know what they’re talking about. It’s pretty flattering to be told that by someone (especially if they have that ‘wow’ factor in their images), but it only becomes useful if they take the time to tell you why they think that. They’ll tell you, technically, why one image is superior to another and why one image can “feel like I’m falling” while another “sinks like a lead balloon”.
That’s ability, your ability, to frame your subject using knows ‘rules’ of light & exposure, lens & films, and ratios & position to achieve a desired result. Ability is learning something new from a book, or a friend, or a forum. But its talent that delivers the story in your image, its talent that draws viewers around your image as they “fall from top to bottom”, and I think its something that you *can* forge as you work on your ability. Looking over my own photo gallery (or anyone else on digital-photo-forum for that matter) I can see my own talent worming its way into my pictures.
Now while I don’t think I have a right to brag (yet
, I do think I should start honouring the intent of this website .. namely providing tips in the field of digital photography. I just wanted you all to know that really, I’m just an amateur trapped in a beginners body. The tips I share with you here are just that; tips I’ve mentally collected over the last whatever and added to my ability.Lines and Shapes
Training your eyes to find the lines & shapes in an image is a good place to start.
Horizontal lines commonly includes landscapes, sleeping/lying figures, or waves on a beach whereas vertical lines can be seen in buildings, groups of people, or a forest.
Horizontal Lines
Working alongside these are the diagonal lines, which are usually the most exciting & visually stimulating lines in an image; the long parallels of a road and even the angle of an opened window.
Vertical Lines
Combining all of these lines in a frame is where is start to see the simpler shapes like triangles and squares.
Lines make the triangle
When you’re waiting to cross the road, in line at the supermarket, even just standing on the train or walking through the park, these times are good to just look around and search for lines & shapes. The more you do it, the more you will notice yourself “seeing” them before you think about it.
That’s talent.
‘til next time, keep shootin.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by sog
Yes I do intend on making it regular. There are plenty of things I have learnt that could/should be added here, but the hardest thing is categorising them. A lot of the stuff I've learnt has been word of mouth or experimentation, and so I'm not really sure where a lot of my knowledge lies!
I'm adding them to groups now, and I'll be posting the groups of knowledge as they are ready .. the next one covers the Rule of Thirds.
Thanks man
Comment by jon
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Comment by AdamB
Hooray,
Adam
Comment by Andres
I'm looking forward for the next post.
Andres
Comment by Cathy
Fakes Frauds Fools
Cathy